Starting
by rinalena95
Summary: Rural Australia might not have been the best place to get going, but it was where everything worth knowing was for her... some things already familiar, others she didn't know existed. Tess, Alex, Claire, B.O.M., Dave, Nick, all the rest and OC. Main man/OC. See if you can guess. T for now. Slightly AU.
1. Chapter 1: Shake It Out

**Hope you're all doing well. Sorry hit a little (… big) writer's block with the other story… do know where I want it to go just not in the right mind set. Don't know if people are still into this TV series but I like it. Sorry about editing. Eventual someone (Guess!) and a character of my own.**

* * *

**Chapter One – Shake It Out**

"… it's hard to dance with a devil on your back

So shake him off, oh whoa

And I am done with my graceless heart

So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart…"

– Florence and the Machine

* * *

Mae took in a deep breath. 'Manure… Lovely.'

Her hazel eyes scanned the vast orange before her. There were things. Shacks for stores, an ancient petrol station and the Gungallen Hotel, but for Mae the most predominant thing was a shade of dusty orange heat. She could sense it through the window of the hotel pub, where she was inside, leaning back against the wooden bar.

The overpowering smell of manure was coming from the old leather faced man sitting on a barstool beside Mae "You lost, love?" he asked her, as orange and rough as the land around him.

"Look it, do I?" she grinned at the greyed haired man, as she turned to lean on the bar placing her weight on her elbows, her feet scuffing the canvas duffel bag on the floor by her.

"I reckon." He gave her a nod. "And just about ready to keel over."

"Well, it's this bloody heat." She huffed, even in a tank top and a pair of jeans the summer heat was frightening. She had piled her wavy brown hair in messy bun halfway through the five hour train ride from Melbourne to Adelaide and changed before the one hour bus to Gungallen. She wanted to laugh at herself for thinking that it had been bad at that point. Mae refused the man's offer to buy her a cold beer, sticking to her iced water instead.

"If not a drink. How about tellin' us what you do want?"

"I'm looking for a bloke…" she chuckled at the man's bushy raised eyebrow, taking a sip of water she went on. "He's a vet. You might know him. David Brewe…"

Before her bar-mate could answer her unfinished question, Mae heard had already him through the open pub door. All at once she felt her head cool and her heart ease into a safe, soft rhythm. 'He's here!' she couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she muttered a quick "Thanks" to her companion, picked up her bag and rushed out the door.

There he was in mud-spattered coveralls facing away from her, standing at the open passenger side door of a blue and silver jeep. Tall, loud, animated and calling after a blonde girl who was laughing her head off as she walked away from him. "You won't regret it!" he shouted as he waved a dirty rag and a grey canister of some liquid in his hands.

Mae had made it a few feet behind him and dropped her bag before she had spoken, feeling more at peace and like smiling then she had in a long while.

"Still killing 'em, huh Crock?"

After the shock had faded from his expression when he turned around and what he was holding had clattered to the ground, it took no time for him wrap his arms around her.

"MOUSE!" he yelled happily at the top of his lungs, lifting her off of the ground and spinning her in a tight embrace. With joyful a squeal she excitedly squeezed him back "I don't… How are… Why are you…?" he questioned poorly as he plopped her down in front of him.

'Still smiling like a born goof.' She grinned up at his bluish-hazel consideration but then what she saw on the right side of his face caused her to frown.

"What is that?" Mae pressed her index finger near the sore looking red welt just above his light brown eyebrow.

"Nothing" he pouted, swatting her prodding hand away from his forehead.

"Yeah." She disbelievingly flicked the brim of his hat "More like you clodded over your clown feet and…"

"No." Dave defended "Actually" he sort of grimaced "Someone wanted to acquaint me with his fist."

Mae began to giggle, but when she realized that he wasn't joking she had to gape. "You got into a fist fight." Her gaze followed him as he sighed and leaned over to pick up the items he had dropped on the dusty orange ground. "You… David Enoch Brewer got into a real fist fight?" She pushed on in doubt, ignoring his sound of protest at the use of his much despised middle name.

"And that's so difficult to believe, is it?" he grunted as he straightened out and chucked the objects into the backseat of the blue and silver jeep parked next to them.

She shrugged in response "Suppose stranger things have happened Crock. Flying pigs, etcetera…"

"Oh ha ha…" he jerked his chin at her.

"So, what do you reckon? I can stay with you or what?"

"Well after an endearing speech like that how could I possibly say 'no'?" he replied sarcastically, picking up her duffel bag and slinging an arm over her shoulders, adding sincerely "I really am glad to see you Mouse."

"I'm glad too" she smiled softly, leaning a little against him, letting herself feel safe again at last.

* * *

"Oh lord! I'm missed your cooking!" She spoke through a mouthful of delicious lamb. "This is exactly why you should live with me Crock!"

"Shhh!" he hushed her from the single room of his one-bedroom, second storey walk up apartment in the heart of Gungallen.

He had been on the phone for the past 20 minutes. They hadn't really had a chance to speak. Mae had privately double-checked the locks on the door while he had showered and by the time she finished her own shower he had gotten started on dinner and finished setting out his dishes. Two bites in and his phone rang. Now Mae was just amusing herself by bugging him, the way he had clambered to answer his phone had made her snicker and his matronly shushing was utterly hilarious.

'And I'm not wrong his food is incredible… the world should know…'

"I'm eating yours now!" she called from the couch in the living room.

"Shush!"

She chuckled "All right. Gave fair warning though!" she dug her fork into rice on the cooling plate that he had left on the coffee table when the call had come in.

'I should be grateful' she mused as she shoveled the tasty forkful into her mouth. The phone had gone off at exactly the right moment. She had placated him with reasons for why she needed a break from the last year of her medical residency in Sydney. Given the fact that she had graduated two years early after choosing to be homeschooled then that she rushed through most of her academic career in Uni, and that as a result she was still relatively young for her program at just six and bit months away from being 22, he didn't have a hard time believing her story… a story that was mostly true anyway.

Even so, just when the phone had gone off he had been searching for more… and as she sat, chewing, through another mouthful of his food she still had nothing to answer him with.

"Barely two minutes and you're already stirring up trouble for me Mouse." Dave walked into the living room snatching his half eaten plate away and Mae's fork out from between her fingers.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

Digging in he took a bite, his eyes rolling in overplayed amazement "YUM!"

"Pfft! You're such a child…"

"Such a child" he mimicked her in high voice, before plonking down on to the couch next to her. He held the plate out to her, so that his old barely used fork stuck out for her to happily take.

"Gonna tell me how I made myself a nuisance then?" she asked after another bite.

"We made quite a scene in town today Maggie." He pulled a serious face as he invoked her middle name as well.

"You and I, Crock?" confused, she used the fork to gesture between them.

He nodded "This is a strange and wonderful place. Where people…" he wriggled his eyebrows dramatically "they talk…"

"That exciting huh?" Mae quipped.

"You bet."

Mae sighed setting her fork to rest on his plate "And strange and wonderful too, huh?"

"Yep." He nodded.

"Just a bit chilly though." She mumbled mockingly.

"Clearly." His familiar wide grin spread across his face.

"Practically an Arctic breeze from that phone of yours…"

He shrugged his shoulders "Seems only right for you."

"Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"It was my future wife frosting the place up…"

That was the second thing that had made Mae frown since she had gotten to this middle of nowhere town "Wife?" she mumbled after a spell of staring at Dave's calmly eating form. "But…"

"Let's just not tonight." He cut her off, seeming to know where she was heading. He exhaled a heavy breath and moved some of his shaggy sun-lightened hair away, showing more of the right side of his wounded face as he got up off of the couch. He took her empty plate with him headed towards the small kitchenette. All at once his fist fight made sense.

"This guy you got in a scuffle with…" Mae scrambled off the couch, going to stand by Dave at the sink as he started to wash up "he wouldn't happen to be this girl's you're marrying…" she paused.

"Tess." he filled in for her "And it was hardly just a 'scuffle'…" he added as Mae grabbed a dish towel to begin drying and putting away what he washed.

"Right" she spoke slowly "so this caveman brawl between manly testosterone filled men…"

"Thanks…" he looked down at her with a light of humour in his bluish eyes.

"No worries… anyway this epic battle was with this Tess' old beau, right?"

With a tight lipped nod he refocused his sights on the dirty dishes.

Mae let out a snigger, shaking her head down at the plate she was drying, she bumped her hip against his side "Good on ya…"

* * *

"Crock?" She whispered. "Crock…" she ventured further into the room that she had only just been peeking into before. Mae was being extra careful, the moonlight between the blinds was all that she had to guide her and she had already stubbed her toe on the coffee table while getting out of her make-shift bed on the couch. She had insisted on sleeping there and Dave, being so tired, had given in.

'It's so bleeding hot…' in her thinnest night dress all that she wanted to do was stick her head in the freezer. Her bladder couldn't handle any more cold water and she couldn't take any more trips to the bathroom. Normally she would have no problem staying awake, but she was absolutely knackered from her travelling and needed to sleep… and Mae knew that there was more to it than just the heat.

"Crock!" she breathed stepping further into the bedroom.

"Go to sleep Mae." She heard his annoyed muffled voice in the dark.

'Uh oh. First name…'

"I can't…" she whispered.

She could hear the rustle of sheets before his reply "You know…" his voice sound more clear and annoyed now, "whether you whisper or not you still wake me up. So why bother whispering?"

"Dunno…" Mae poked at the carpeted floor with her injured big toe "Guess I feel bad about it... waking you I mean…"

She heard him sigh "Still can't stand new places Mouse?"

"Nah uh."

"Better get in then." He allowed.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Mae scurried towards the sound of his voice.

"Ow!"

"Sorry. Sorry." She apologized as she climbed over him to get to the empty side of the bed. Silence fell as she settled in, lying on her side, facing away from him. Mae could hear the soft beats of Dave's breathing as he neared sleep.

"Crock?" she quietly asked, her eyes still open in the dark. Hearing a semi-conscious grunt she went on "I did miss you. And I just …" Mae struggled looking for the right words for a moment "…I suppose I just needed my big brother very badly."

"Aw…" She smiled to herself as she felt him haphazardly pet the top of head "need you too…" he grumbled sleepily, before checking out completely.

And that was enough, just to know that someone was there, with that she could finally let her tired eyes shut. 'It'll work…'

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**Let me know what you think of this. Looking forward to hearing from you. **


	2. Chapter 2: Happy

**Yay! There are sill fans! Sorry about editing… and clunky stuff.**

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**Chapter Two – Happy**

"… If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands

If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands…"

– Anonymous

* * *

"So I went to Melbourne… saw the old place…"

"And?"

"Oh my gosh!" Mae became distracted. She had been rifling through his closet, not on purpose to start with, but after waking up very late in the day, teasing him then helping him pick out the right shirt for the barbeque he was heading to, she couldn't stop. "You still have this Crock?" standing on her tip toes, she pulled their father's old silk top-hat off of the high shelf in the closet. Fitting it on her head Mae giggled to herself "You always had the most peculiar sense of humour… you and mum both…" she grinned at the memory of the impromptu 'ball' their mother had taken them all to as children, a ball in the dingiest hotel restaurant possible where their mum had said they had to behave like royalty and talk in British accents. It had been one of best days Mae could remember…

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"Dave had come to stand in the doorway to his bedroom, "I went to Melbourne myself… what did you think of it?"

"I…" Mae turned on her heel and spluttered at the sight of Dave trying to tie a blue necktie around his throat, maybe if it had been patterned with multicoloured fish she would not have laughed but the sight of Dave in a proper tie and matching shirt was unsettling.

"Hey! Can't be that bad can it?" he turned his confused gaze down to the simple navy tie.

"Nah nah… you're all right…" Mae brushed by him to get a glass of water from the kitchen. "Just how can you wear anything like a suit in this heat Crock?" she opened fridge to get some chilled water.

"This is nothing compared to when summer really gets started…"

"Might have to see it to believe it…" she poured herself and Dave a glass.

"Think so Maggie?" she heard the interest in his tone of voice.

Mae made sure to clatter and bang about enough to fill the quiet. "Maybe…" she mumbled put the water back and turning to him with the glasses. "Anyway, the old house..." once his tie was tied Mae handed him his water, "Someone's managed to paint white over that beautiful avocado colour that mum loved and it was completely empty, everything was gone…"

"Well I should hope so." He whacked the top-hat off her head and wrestled an arm around her neck, leading her to the cupboard in the corner of the room.

"My water!"

"Look in there, Mouse." He let her hopelessly struggling form go.

"Just 'cause you're taller…" she patted down her freshly frizzed up brown hair.

"Smarter, stronger, better at driving…" he went on with the list.

She stared him down for a moment "Your tie is crooked" she stated seeing him frown and glance down as she turned to open the cupboard.

"Boxes…"

"Everything I could get from the old place…"

Mae whipped around, with no concern for her drink, it was her turn to run up and hug him for dear life. "Brilliant man."

"You didn't expect me to leave it all there, did you?"

Mae sniffed, shaking her head against his chest. "Course not…"

"Besides…" he took a sip of water "you'll be needing something to wear…"

"What?" she pulled back still clasping her own glass.

"Yeah you'll be meeting the in-laws, a few friends… neighbours" he smiled "didn't I say?"

"What?" she repeated.

"Yeah… I gotta leave to help setup in half a mo' so you'll have to take my truc…"

"I've gotta take your truck? Why can't I go with yo… Wait! When did we decide I was going?" she asked, trying to get the sinking feeling at him leaving her alone out of her stomach.

"Suppose when you showed up here yesterday without warning and made a scene, Mouse." Speaking over her scoff, he went about finishing with his explanation and getting ready "And you can't go with me 'cause you have to find something decent to wear in those boxes…"

"Jeans and a t-shirt isn't decent in the Outback?"

"Tess likes good impressions and you'll need something other than that…" Dave gestured at shorts and tank she was wearing.

"I'll chuck this on you…" she raised her half empty glass threateningly.

Laughing he clicked his tongue "Not my fault you were in too much of rush to pack more than a duffel bag…"

Mae cleared her throat a little, "Uh yeah…" she stopped at the sound of Dave's exclamation.

"Crikey! That the time? Sorry love. I gotta get going…" he raced to her pressed a kiss against her cheek. "I left a map on the table and try not to leave it too late. Drover's Run's about two hours drive…"

"Two hours?" she cringed as he bustled around gathering up some bags already by the door.

"With your wonderful sense of direction, you'll be right…" he teased as he opened the door.

"I can still reach you from here Crock" she shook her glass a little.

"Yeah -uh..." He gave a final look "Remember Mouse… good impression."

"Sure thing" she cheers'd the slam of the door closing behind her big brother.

After making sure the front door was securely locked she picked up the car keys and hand drawn map that she had found on the coffee table. Mae grinned at the annotations telling her to drive carefully, avoid strangers and be at this Drover's Run place by 7 pm.

By the time she had figured out which boxes were filled with her old stuff it was almost half past 4, even so she was pretty proud of herself for containing her nostalgic impulses for the most part.

She had been looking for something loose, light enough for the heat and preferably something short sleeved that did not have to be ironed. "Thank goodness…" she mumbled digging out a dusty blue strapless, knee-length dress that her mum had bought her. "Beauty..." she murmured, examining the item of silk -chiffon cloth to find that it had been left largely unwrinkled. Getting up off of the floor where she was sitting, surrounded by boxes Mae began making a mental check of what she need to do 'Saves time… just gotta shave underarms real quick and…' she stopped in her tracks to the bathroom. A flash of annoyance and what she was sure was genius struck her when her hazel gaze landed on the pink netting and tulle sticking out of the box with the mementos of her substantial musical phase.

"Good impression…" mumbled as she finished getting ready.

* * *

"Shoulda known…" Dave had shaken his head and rushed to meet her at the door when she had arrived about quarter of an hour late. The place was huge and Mae didn't quite know how to process all of the land as she had driven up to reach the main house at Drover's Run.

Mae made a confused face, though she couldn't keep her playful smile away for long. In her hand was her favourite pan flute, around her middle over top of her light blue dress was pink netted tutu and on her brown-haired head a wreath of light pink flowers. "What?" she asked, innocently blowing into the flute.

"And I take after mum?" He shook his head, but staring up into his eyes Mae could tell how happy she had made him.

"Ah come on… you said good impression what more impressive than a ballerina right out of Giselle?"

He sighed "Perhaps a med student…"

She rolled her eyes and blew into the flute again "Boring Crock…"

"Hello!" a nervous female voice chimed in from behind her brother.

Looking past Dave's arm Mae saw a blonde woman a good distance inside the house, about the same height as her in a pretty dress "Hiya!" Mae moved by her brother, a held out her hand "You must be Tess! I'm Mae… or Maggie if you like…"

Tess shook Mae's hand, her blue eyes darting between Dave, who was still at the door, and Mae "Like Maggie May?"

"Sort of just flipped and M. A. E. then Maggie for Liz Taylor and the whole thing for Rod Stewart… Mum wanted all her obsessions covered…" Mae rambled on as Tess nodded along politely taken aback, Mae took her hand back from Tess "Anyway…" she blew into her flute and gestured over her shoulder "That goof is my big brother… don't ask about his name, that was all dad's doing…"

"You two would have to be related." Tess nodded in agreement, clearly having had experience with Dave's own quirkiness.

"Reckon that makes it official huh, Crock?" Mae grinned back at her brother.

"Croc? Croc-o-dile…" Tess grinned in Dave's general direction, seeming to work it out for herself. "'Cause he smiles so much…"

"Tess you get lost out here?" Mae heard what sounded like a stampede of people coming down the hallway from behind Tess.

Despite this she went on "Nah, with a 'k'… you know like everything that comes out of his mouth is a crock of sh… " Mae's voice was muffled as she felt Dave's hand clamp over her mouth as a group primarily consisting of women crowded behind Tess.

"Why not leave it for another time, eh, Mouse?"

"Dunno. I'm interested…" Tess gave a challenging smirk up at Dave.

"So am I…" an amused looking blonde girl scoffed from next to a stern brown haired woman who was holding a baby.

Tess turned to face the group "You all had to come up then, did you?"

Mae pried Dave's hand away, looking back up at her brother "See they wanna know" she playful sounded her pipe again.

Giggling as Dave warned "Watch it or they'll know all about you Mouse…"

"That I was biter and dad thought you were a fibber? What's so bad about that?"

"Not I thing I reckon" the brown-haired woman with the baby smiled widely, reminding the brother and sister that they did have an audience. She went on her expression one of greeting to Mae "I'm Claire McLeod, Tess's sister. And this is Charlotte…" she looked from the baby in her arms to take in all of what Mae was wearing. "And you must be Dave's sister…"

"That seems to be the call of the day."

When they made it out back Mae realised exactly what a 'few friends' and neighbours meant. Tillmans, Mills, Ryans, McLeods… it seemed as though every bit of land had been owned by families for undying generations. From the mud brick look of Drover's Run, Mae was sure that life in the country was something like life in a Tuscan villa. But apparently most of the sons and daughters who belonged to these families, from what Mae could figure, had either moved away or were still finishing up the day's work somewhere in some paddock.

"That's farm life, never stops…" Dave shrugged at Mae, as the party began winding down and after the guests had enough time to acclimatize to Mae's state of dress.

"Really" Mae felt about ready to faint in the heat "Even when it's boiling?"

Tess who had spent a lot of her life in the city too added with some sympathy "You get used to it…"

"Crikey! Wouldn't Patty's hair would curl at that?…" Mae waited for Dave to agree with her, instead she heard Tess pipe in first.

"Patty?" the blonde looked up at Dave. "You have another sister?"

"No…" Mae's face creased in uncertainty "ah… Patrick." She waited see if Tess recognized the name before going on "The dreaded middle child of our household…" Mae watched Dave for a response instead he looked a bit panicked and took a chug of his beer. He obviously didn't want to talk about it.

'Have to ask him about it later…'

"Uh, well I wanted a big sister, 'cause I already had the awesome big brother covered…" Mae moved to squeeze her arm around Dave's waist, he had looked afraid and Mae was sure he had his reasons "So you know… I decided on Patty." Mae pushed on hoping he could tell that it was all right by her, she had to wonder though 'Did he tell them about me?'

"Oh…" Tess looked a bit confused herself "Funny."

"Yeah. He moves around quite a bit… not the most… Oh cripes!" Mae's grip tightened around Dave as she suddenly remembered something while her mind was on the subject of reliability "Crock! I completely forgot your truck was making weird noises…"

"Huh?" He pushed away from her, blue eyes wide "Slipped your mind did it?"

Mae apologetically winced up at him and gave her flute another blow.

"Good-o" he sighed "better go take a look then." In flash he had bolted off, taking the out that Mae was giving him from a potentially awkward conversation.

Gasping in a breath she turned back to Tess "So, is Tess short for anything?"

"Yeah, Teresa…"

"Right" unsure of what to say, given that Dave had evidently been selective about what he had told his fiancée about his life, Mae clapped her hands "Oh! He'll be needing the keys…" Mae stated, though she had already given them back to Dave.

"Right…" Tess nodded slowly as Mae backed away and went after her brother.

"David dear!" Mae called out as shrill as she could when she neared the spot where she had parked his truck. She could hear the groan of an engine failing to start then the creak of what she assumed to be the hood of the car from behind the stone wall she was walking next to. "Hope you didn't think I was joking."

"You know you could have at least taken the tutu off." He grumbled loud enough for her to hear over the yellowish mud brick.

"And have ruined the ensemble?" she giggled, going from her stroll to skipping, giving the flute a play "Don't get why you're so upset…" she twirled and rounded the corner to the carpark "You knew it would be too tempti… oof!"

She raised her free hand to keep the wreath from falling off of her head when she smacked into whatever hard thing it was before her 'Too soft to be the wall… too smelly…' she had closed her eyes on impact 'Nothing sore…' Mae blinked her hazel eyes opening to see a blue mud caked shirt and going higher to meet the sight of a brown-haired 'boy… man… specimen…?'

"What was that Mouse?" she heard Dave ask in the distance.

"Nothing Crock, just ran into a tree."

"What?" Dave called.

"A tree?" the huge man who had tripped her up smiled warmly as he steadied her.

"Mouse?" another less amused voice broke into the scene causing Mae's hazel eyes to wander to a blonde man just a foot or two away. Just as mud splattered and as tall the bloke holding her, though perhaps not quite as burly. That was the where her gaze stuck and of the three questioning voices, his was what she heard clearest. He looked and sounded mean, his eyes as blue as the man before her were filled with an impatience that made her nervous.

"Nickname…" she offered, shrugging off the big guy's grip.

The brown-haired man drew back her focus still smiling and friendly in tone. "As opposed to…"

Taking her hand off her head Mae finished for him "Nutter, fruit-cake…" she looked between the two strangers "Mae." She held out her hand to the brown-haired fellow.

"G' day Alex." She heard Dave approaching.

'Alex' she took note as the brown-haired man tipped his hat in greeting to her brother.

"Nick…" Dave spoke louder towards the blonde man, who stiffened and with a curt nod muttered something about finding his father before stomping away towards the house.

"So you two must be related…" Alex smiled at the pair of them, ignoring the odd behaviour of his companion.

"Why does everyone just assume that?" she asked.

"Aren't you?"

"Yeah, but there's something to be said for an air of mystery…" Mae nudged Dave, who was next to her now.

"Well no mystery here. I'm Alex Ryan" his large dirt covered hand engulfed hers in a handshake "and that boof-head…" he nodded at the entrance to the house "is my brother, Nick."

"Ryan? I met your father…um Harry. Among a million other people today."

Alex raised his eyebrows at Dave "Should be interesting to hear about."

Mae felt Dave's arm protectively reach around her shoulders, she could feel him trying to tug her away from Alex.

"So… looks like the truck's stuffed. I'll have to take you back to town." Dave spoke before Mae could get a word in.

"I'd better go in anyway…" Alex began making his way to the house, his good-humour unwavering as passed Mae "I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Nice to meet you" Mae called after him, "and your brother!" she added after a small pause.

"All right then. I'll just run in and say bye to Tess…" Dave started to pull away from her.

Mae's thoughts caught up with her, the sharp pang of fear caught up too "Wait! Crock. You weren't really gonna let me go back to stay in town alone?"

Dave's face lit up with a silly smile "Scared of snakes are you Mouse?"

"Nah… just reckon we need to talk..." Mae composed herself with a cough, her eyes moving away from his "Properly…"

She could see his expression grow more serious out of the corner of her eye "Righto…" he stated heading towards the house. "Give us a tick."

"Crock!"

"Yeah?" she heard him ask from behind her.

Mae huffed out a breath spinning to look at Dave, unable to check her curiosity from earlier. "Are you…" she pulled at the ends of her wavy brown hair. "You aren't ashamed of me or something are you?"

"What?" Mae looked up at his question. Everything about him utterly resolute "Listen here Mouse. Not even a day in my life…" he glanced over her appearance "Not ever." He smiled his goofy grin, one that Mae had to return "Now stay here, you silly goose. Be right back."

"Righto…" Mae muttered still smiling as she watched her brother walk off in the gorgeous pink light of a country sun setting, giving herself leave to rub the ache of fear at her middle away.

* * *

**Let me know what you think. **


	3. Chapter 3: Sydney (I'll Come Running)

**Hey! Sorry it took so long. Just can't force it, you know what I mean? Hope you're all doing well and still fans of the awesomeness of that is McLeod's Daughters! (blanking the last few seasons…) On we go!**

* * *

**Chapter Three – Sydney (I'll Come Running)**

"…Call me up and I'll come runnin' straight to you

You know that I was never that cool

But I won't be taken for a fool

If they wanna talk trash

They can talk, talk, talk

But they better come collect

And if you ever need me, call me …"

– Brett Dennen

* * *

"I spy with my little eye something that is brown."

"Mouse I don't wanna play..." he sighed tiredly driving as the sun dipped low behind the horizon.

"Come on! It's fun!" She poked his side.

"Fine..." He grumbled "Mmm..." his bluish eyes absently roamed the barren landscape outside the window. "A rock?" He guessed.

Mae frowned "How'd you know?"

"Brewer Telepathy..." he tapped two fingers against his temple.

"Oh right, that..." She mumbled.

After a small pause he whistled and broke the heavy silence. "So what did you wanna talk about?"

Biting her lips and playing with the end of her tutu choosing to keep the focus on him, she looked at her big brother. "You're getting married."

"Observant as always" Dave smirked.

"Again..." she emphasized.

Dave's mouth pinched, as he stared determinedly out the windshield.

It was all so... so strange to think of. Leanne had been great and when she had gotten into the accident Mae couldn't believe it. That first day she had found her big brother with the shutters of his musty apartment closed, unwashed, unshaved and wracked with guilt. She spent that whole day sitting in bed with him, just being there. No one could have kept her from visiting or staying for as long as she did.

'Not even...' Mae shook her head to clear it.

In any case it took two months of taking her the most of her theory courses over distance education and Julie's arrival to force Mae to physically go back to the university campus. Julie, Dave's first wife, had been more like a close family friend to Mae. Especially since she had been Dave's childhood sweetheart and had been around the whole Brewer clan for almost all of Mae's life. She had stayed close even after her marriage to Dave had failed, but they had seen a lot less of Julie since she had met her new husband and moved to the Northern Territory to have a whole brood of lovely little ankle biters. 'She came back for Crock though… and when mum and dad…'

"Hey!" Dave waved his hand in front Mae's face interrupting her thoughts "Are you completely zonked out?"

"No!" she defended, looking as offended as possible "I just worry about you, Crock. Aren't you…?"

"Moving too fast?"

"Yeah. You've kinda been a leaper with relationships…" she thought on it for a moment "more like a base jumper … No wait a skydiver!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Wow! Always wondered about that metaphor…" Dave breathed sarcastically.

"Really?" she teasingly matched his mockery.

"Ha!" he swiped the back of her head playfully, as he went to turn on the headlights of the truck as it grew darker. While Mae straightened her wreath, he took a breath of silence before he spoke seriously and quietly "It's different with Tess, Maggie…" he raked his left hand though his sun-bleached hair. "I've sorted through some stuff… we had been together a while back, the first time I asked her, she said wouldn't marry me until I dealt with everything properly…"

Mae turned to look at her big brother, he seemed to be sincere in what he was saying. This Tess Silverman-McLeod had convinced him to face something neither she nor Julie could get him to face. She didn't know what to say, so she just took the hand that he had closest to her and squeezed it, she hoped he could feel her happiness and relief for him. He squeezed back, she could see a gentle smile on his face.

"And that battle mark on your face is a token of the time she spent in between proposals, then?"

With a huff of breath he nodded "Yep…" he moved both his hands up to the steering wheel.

A rather funny thought occurred to her, too good to be true she chuckled as she asked "Don't tell me it was that blonde guy… um…" she struggled to remember his name.

Clicking his tongue and shaking his head Dave didn't need to answer. She knew.

"It was! The neighbour!"

"Not the best part, Mouse…" Dave sighed "He's one of my clients…"

"Oh no…" Mae smiled, though she tried not to, it was an awful and awkward situation. But it was too much like a soap opera for her not to find it funny.

The only not amusing part was that her brother had gotten hurt. "Well you should have had me there. I'd have given him the old Brewer one – two…" she lifted her fists to pretending to punch him.

Dave laughed "He's twice your size, Mouse. It'd be like a kitten against an elephant…"

She giggled, suddenly remembering another point of soreness from the evening "Crock?" she prodded heavily.

"Mmmm…" he nodded for her to continue.

"Why didn't Tess know about us?... I mean you've proposed to her twice and everything…"

"In all fairness you didn't know about her either…" he winced, as he lamely tried to excuse his behaviour. His bluish-hazel gaze turned to meet her clearly disheartened expression. With a deep breath he shook his head again "It was just all so complicated, Maggie. I couldn't talk about any of you without dragging up the past…" he pursed his lips with a flinch "I was going to tell her, but since I got back we've been on such a fast track that there never seemed to be a right time…"

"That makes sense…" Mae commented softly, still a little hurt but understanding his reasons, "Hey!" her hazel eyes lit up as she quickly found the bright side "You can call Patty now too!" she beamed at him.

He pebbled his chin in thought and nodded "Maybe…" his voice trailed off, as he looked up from the road to grin goofily at her "Show us that Brewer one – two."

"You sure you're ready for this…?" Mae wearing a grin to mirror his, raised her fists threateningly.

"You bet" he laughed, as she pretended to punch him out again.

Adding "Pop! Pop! Pow!" sound effects Mae laughed along too.

"Definitely would have given Nick Ryan a run for his money" Dave chuckled as his phone began ringing from his coat pocket. "Uh oh…" he frowned, answering the call as Mae watched and waited. "Now…?" he looked at Mae, seeming to weigh his options "Ok, I'll be right there…" he ended the call and explained to Mae as he turned the truck around "There's a breach foal over at Killarney."

"Killarney?" she asked.

"The Ryans' property."

"Do all the houses here have names?"

"Just about."

"Awesome. Ooo! Could we be the Tea House?" she asked excitedly.

"Brewer. Tea. Clever…"

Mae shrugged her shoulders "Or We could go with beer if you prefer…"

"True" he seemed to ponder seriously, "…one thing though, Mouse. You don't have a property."

"But you do."

"I do. And if I'm honest…" he sighed, eying her wearily "I suppose that means you do too." Dave finished with a smile.

"Well, duh Crock" she flicked at his forehead lightly "duh…"

* * *

If Drover's Run was dry and Tuscan, Killarney was lush and Amazonian "Whoa…" Mae mumbled as they pulled up.

Dave jumped out the car, taking his suit jacket and tie off as he did. Ducking his head into the window after he had closed the car door, he asked "You don't wanna…?" he gestured towards a stable looking area in the distance.

"I'll just wait here Crock." She smiled, wishing him well as he ran along.

'What to do now?' Dave had left the keys in the truck, but trying to listen to the radio was pointless, all they got out here was static. Tapping her fingers on the dashboard, picking at the ends of her long brown hair and listening to the singing of crickets in the evening heat was driving her mad. 'Stuff this…' she thought to herself, grabbing Dave's keys as she climbed out the truck and went to explore the all too tempting leafiness of Killarney.

She made sure not to wander too far into the garden, not wanting to stir up any suspicion or lose the place of the truck. Getting lost in the moonlight would be all too typical for her.

But then she saw it... golden, reflecting the moon's glow and walking lopsidedly away from her in a fenced field.

"OI!" she burst out before she could stop herself. Mae looked for something to get his attention with 'What wouldn't I give for my pipe right now' she thought of the flute she had left in the car, as she began running towards the mud splattered figure with the annoyingly long stride. Carefully she climbed over the wooden fence and into the field "Hey! You!" She heaved again, having trouble recalling his name, there were too many new people and faces from that day still muddled up in her head. But she could remember one distinct title he had been given "You… Elephant!"

Finally he looked to be slowing down instead of running into him to stop, just as he turned around, she shoved him. Judging by his size she had caught him off guard which was the only reason she had been able to make him stagger back at all.

Mae was aware of him gaping at her with arms raised in bewilderment as she caught her breath and made sure her wreath and tutu hadn't fallen off in her rush.

"Who do think you are hurting my brother, huh?" She asked still gasping a little. 'I am so not in the right shape for this.'

The confused blonde haired man opened his mouth as though he couldn't figure out how respond, though he managed to look utterly irritated as he did so.

He blinked a bit seeming to recognize her after taking in her whole appearance "Louse right?"

"Mouse. And it's Mae to you Mister." She jerked out her chin and crossed her arms.

"All right then, Mae." He walked closer to her unmoving form. She stood her ground noticing now, from up close, that his lopsided stride was from a limp and not the uneven ground.

'Maybe Crock did hurt him...' she thought to herself skeptically.

"I don't know who you think you are, but threatening people twice your size is not a good idea." He stopped about two feet away from her but that was close enough. His blue eyes were darkened and intense, as he looked down at her from his towering height.

'How did I forget he looked like that?' An involuntary shiver ran up her spine.

Gritting her teeth Mae shook off the prickles "Your... your elephant tactics don't intimidate me. You just keep your hands off my brother." She resisted the urge to shake her finger at him. 'That'd just make me look silly…'

"Elephant tactics?" his face lined in confusion again. "Listen Tick..."

"Mae." She corrected.

"Whatever" he brushed off "your brother ruin..."

"Ruined your life? Your relationship?" She asked before going on "Look, I don't know you in the slightest, but I get it. It blows, but man she chose him. And better sooner than later because she clearly wants him and he wants her and there was always going to be later." Mae tried to keep her cool as her hazel eyes skimmed over his visibly shaking form "And so help me, if he's broken again in any way because of your sense of being wronged I swear I'll break your face."

Mae tried her best not to quiver. His clean-shaven jaw was pulled tight and he looked as though he wanted to hit her, she swore she could feel the fire in his dark blue eyes burning her skin. 'Thought the country heat was bad…'

"Break my face?" He eased out a breath that he had looked to have been holding.

"May not look it but be warned. They call me Mouse for a reason."

"Clearly 'cause you're so subdued and meek."

With a snorted, she retorted "Better than having a stick up my bum," Returning his seething stare. She realized that a fair amount of time had worn on, and that she had gotten a bit turned around in her hurry to catch him. What was worse was that nature was calling 'Just brilliant Mae.' Not backing down she kept her eyes on his and asked with an edge to her tone of voice "Now. If you'd just point me in the direction of the nearest restroom, I'll be on my way."

Clenching his jaw even tighter his blue eyes remained stubbornly glued to hers as well. Slowly he lifted his arm pointing her in the right direction.

"Thank you." She stated, beginning to walk away.

"Bloody Tick..." she heard him say. It wasn't very loud, he probably had not meant it for her ears but it had reached them anyway.

"Lumbering Elephant" she replied over her shoulder certain that he heard her as she stomped away in the hot night air.

* * *

**Hope you liked it. Let me know what you think! And if you're liking it so far. I'll try to update sooner next time.**


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